1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for optimizing computer hardware usage in a computing system that includes a plurality of populated central processing unit (‘CPU’) sockets.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern computing systems may include a plurality of computer processors such as a plurality of CPUs. Each CPU can be mounted in a CPU socket. The CPUs that are chosen to be active in a multi-socket system are frequently chosen based on a sequential socket identifier assignment. For example, the CPUs in socket 0, socket 1, socket 2, and socket 3 may be active while CPUs in socket 4 and socket 5 may be inactive. Furthermore, the CPU that will be used to boot the computing system may also be designated based on the socket identifier, such that the CPU in socket 0 will be utilized to boot the computing system. In such a way, the designation of a socket identifier is used to identify active CPUs and a boot CPU, with no consideration given to the rate at which an individual CPU or a particular combination of CPUs generate errors, the type of errors generated by an individual CPU or a particular combination of CPUs, or any other consideration related to the generation of errors.